STATE
OF
CALIFORNIA PUC > Energy > California Environmental Quality Act > Current Projects Southern California Edison'sRiverside Transmission Reliability Project(Application No. A.15-04-013)Last updated: February 15, 2024NOTE: Linked files presented on this page are in PDF format. To view them, you will need to download the free Adobe Acrobat Reader if it is not already installed on your computer. For faster results in displaying the larger files, right-click the file's link, click "Save Target As" to download the file to your hard drive, then double-click the downloaded file.RevRe |
The CPUC Issues Project Decision Presiona aquí para ver información en español. |
Welcome
to the California
Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) website for the environmental review
of
Southern California Edison’s (SCE’s) proposed Riverside Transmission
Reliability Project (RTRP or project) in Riverside County, California.
SCE
submitted an application to the CPUC for a Certificate of Public
Convenience
and Necessity (CPCN) for this project on April 15, 2015, and an amended
application on April 30, 2015. In August 2016, SCE submitted project
revisions
that included constructing a portion of the transmission line
underground (See
Background and Project Description below). This site provides access to
public
documents and information relevant to the CPUC’s California
Environmental
Quality Act (CEQA) process. QUICK LINKSCommission Decision (Updated March 30, 2020)Background and Project Description Deficiencies, Data Requests, and Responses Project Schedule
*Note: All anticipated dates are approximate and subject to change. The Draft Subsequent EIR and comments are provided below. Background and Project DescriptionSCE and the City of Riverside's
Municipal Utility Department
(known as Riverside Public Utilities [RPU]) jointly planned the RTRP.
RPU is a
consumer-owned water and electric utility that has been providing
services
throughout the City of Riverside since 1895. The project would be owned
and
operated by both RPU and SCE. The RPU would own and operate certain
elements of
the RTRP including the new 69-kV Wilderness Substation, 69-kV
subtransmission
lines, and interconnection and telecommunication facilities. The SCE
CPCN
application covers the construction of RTRP elements that would be
owned and operated
by SCE, which would include: •
Approximately 8 miles of
new overhead
230-kilovolt (kV) transmission line; •
Approximately 2 miles of
new underground 230-kV
transmission line; • New
230-kV Wildlife Substation; • Modifications
of existing overhead distribution
lines; • Modifications
at existing substations; and • Telecommunication
facilities between the
existing Mira Loma and Vista Substations and the proposed Wildlife
Substation. The RTRP was first proposed by
RPU. Acting as the CEQA Lead
Agency, the City of Riverside prepared an Environmental Impact Report
(EIR) to
analyze the environmental impacts from construction, operation, and
maintenance
of the RTRP. While
there are separate
permit requirements and authorizations required for RPU and SCE, the
project EIR
considered the “whole of the action” under CEQA (CEQA Guidelines
§15378[a])
since neither the RPU elements nor the SCE elements could operate
independent
of one another. The City of Riverside certified the 2013 RTRP Final EIR
and
approved the project on February 5, 2013. Following certification of the
RTRP EIR, residential and
commercial developments within SCE’s proposed transmission line route
were
approved by the City of Jurupa Valley. Construction of several of these
developments has begun or been completed; therefore, construction of
the
original RTRP transmission line route would require SCE to claim
eminent domain
through recently entitled developments including the Lennar Homes’
Riverbend
Community, the Vernola Marketplace Apartment Community, and the
Stratham Homes
Harmony Trails Subdivision. In September 2016, SCE revised the proposed
transmission line route to avoid these three development projects. The
September
2016 transmission route revisions were not included in the 2013 RTRP
EIR and have
not yet undergone environmental review. CPUC is the next-in-line public agency with discretionary approval of the CPCN. The CPUC has determined that changes in the baseline physical condition (development within the proposed transmission alignment) and changes in the project description (SCE modifications to avoid the new development) require additional analysis under CEQA. Detailed maps of the proposed route and project components can be viewed here. CPCN ApplicationSCE filed an Application for a
CPCN (A.15-04-013) on April
15, 2015, which included the certified 2013 RTRP Final EIR prepared by
the City
of Riverside and associated administrative record. The RTRP Final EIR
was filed
by SCE as equivalent information to a Proponent’s Environmental
Assessment. SCE
filed an Amended Application on April 30, 2015. The Application and Amended
Application can be viewed here: Application
(3.4 MB) Amended Application
(2.5 MB) The 2013 RTRP Final EIR can be
viewed here. The CPUC deemed the application
complete on January 5, 2017. The letter of completeness can be viewed here. Deficiencies, Data Requests, and ResponsesThe CPUC Environmental Review Team submitted data requests to the applicant for specific information to support the environmental review process. Those requests and the applicant's responses are published below.
Additional Information RequestsThe CPUC Environmental Review Team submitted data requests to other entities for specific information to support the environmental review process. Those request and the responses are provided below.
Environmental ReviewFinal Subsequent Environmental Impact ReportThe CPUC has prepared a Subsequent EIR to address potential impacts resulting from project revisions and changes in baseline conditions following the certification of the 2013 RTRP Final EIR. The Final Subsequent EIR was released for public review on October 2, 2018. Comments that were submitted on the Draft Subsequent EIR and responses to all comments are presented in Appendix M of Volume 2 of the Final Subsequent EIR. The CPUC is expected to make a decision on the project in the fourth quarter of 2019.The Notice of Availability can be viewed here. The Final Subsequent EIR can be viewed here. Printed copies of the Final Subsequent EIR are available for review at the following locations:
Draft Subsequent
Environmental Impact Report
The Draft Subsequent EIR was released for public review on April 2, 2018. The Notice of Availability can be viewed here. The Draft Subsequent EIR can be viewed here. The CPUC, as the CEQA lead agency, held public informational workshops on the 24th and 25th of April at Mira Loma Middle School in Jurupa Valley. The purpose of the workshops were to help affected communities understand the Revised Project, its alternatives, the Draft Subsequent EIR, and how to participate in the CPUC decision-making process. Public informational workshop materials can be found below. Informational workshop materials:
Written CommentsAfter
publication of the Draft Subsequent
EIR, a comment period was
held from
April 2 through May 17, 2018. Comments were recieved from agencies,
non-governmental organizations and businesses, and public individuals.
Responses to comments willl be presented in the Final Subsequent
EIR.
CEQA Initial Study ChecklistThe CPUC prepared an Initial Study
Checklist for the RTRP project revisions. The Initial Study Checklist
was
prepared in January 2017 and provided an initial screening of
environmental
impacts based on information available at the time. The Initial Study
Checklist
was released with the Notice of Preparation. Several
environmental topics that
were screened out in the Initial Study Checklist were re-analyzed in
the Draft
Subsequent EIR based on additional project engineering refinements,
further
environmental review by the CPUC, and the consideration of scoping
comments. Notice of
Preparation and Scoping
Issuance of a CEQA Notice of Preparation (NOP) is the first step in the EIR Process. The NOP provides a description of SCE's application and the revised project as well as a summary of environmental topics to be considered in the Subsequent EIR. The NOP was issued on January 25, 2017 and is available here. The scoping period began on January 25 and ended on February 24, 2017. In order for the public and regulatory agencies to have an opportunity to ask questions on the scope of the Subsequent EIR, the CPUC, as the CEQA lead agency, held a scoping meeting for the public on February 8, 2017 at Jurupa Valley High School. The CPUC described SCE's proposed project and the CPUC review process. Public comments on the scope and issues to be addressed in the Subsequent EIR were accepted during the meeting.A copy of the
presentation is available here: English
| Spanish
The project fact sheet is available here: English | Spanish * The listed fact sheets provide the corrected project website URL. Scoping Report The CPUC prepared a Scoping Report that documents the scoping activities and oral comments from the scoping meeting, as well as the written comments submitted in response to the NOP. This report serves as an information source to the CPUC in the determination of the range of issues and alternatives to be addressed in the Draft Subsequent EIR. Click below to view the Scoping Report and Appendices. Scoping Report (2.27 MB) Appendices (82.8 MB) Construction Phase
Mitigation Monitoring |
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